Ducal Palace
Castle of the Ducal Streel
The Palace
In the heart of the historic center of Montebello di Bertona is the Palazzo Ducale, which stands on the previous structures of the medieval castle. According to some sources, the feud of Montebello was donated in 1228 by the House of Swabia to a certain Filippo, a member of the noble Gaudiosi family, of distant French origin and dating back to the Angevin princes. According to prof. Mario Falco, on the other hand, the Dukes Gaudiosi, Vincenzo, Antonio and Andrea, were the feudal lords of Montebello starting from 1769, but they were not lords of the place. This dating coincides with the information found in the Land Registry books preserved in the Municipal Archives of the 17th and 18th centuries according to which the Gaudiosi at that time had possessions in Montebello, but were not lords of the place. In 1778, following the death of Baron Domenico, Beatrice Gaudiosi, sister of the deceased, wanted to assign to her nephew Andrea, through an irrevocable donation between the living, “all his stable, burgensatic, feudal, movable, self-propelled assets, wherever located. .. Among the assets object of the donation were also included the annual revenues, censuses, rents, gold, coined silver, reasons, shares and everything else that Donna Beatrice now belongs to, and in the future will be entitled to, and compete on the hereditary assets paternal, maternal, etc… Andrea, in order to make the donation valid, would have had to establish a perpetual fiduciary majorato, i.e. a trust for the transmissibility of all goods, in favor of his firstborn male.” The only certain news is that the Gaudiosi sold the palace between 1924 and 1925. For the people of Montebello, the Palace, enormous and mysterious, is frequented by the mazzatamburrilli, prankster and mischievous elves, the protagonists of many stories of traditional folklore. In the Register of Public Parliaments, in the session of 22 February 1733, the attachment reads: “The widow Dorotea, Giov. Battista, and Domenico Gaudiosi, her sons of the second marriage, and current owners of all and individual properties from the inheritance of the Armenii House located in the appurtenances of said City; yes still in the Land and districts of Montebello, and elsewhere feudal. Gentileschi and Barsenzatici, and of every other nature…” It is currently used for the organization of important cultural and tourist events and workshops.